19 Facts About Arthur Cayley

Arthur Cayley was a prolific British mathematician who worked mostly on algebra.

Arthur Cayley helped found the modern British school of pure mathematics.

Arthur Cayley entered Trinity College, Cambridge, where he excelled in Greek, French, German, and Italian, as well as mathematics.

Arthur Cayley was born in Richmond, London, England, on 16 August 1821.

Arthur Cayley's father, Henry Cayley, was a distant cousin of Sir George Cayley, the aeronautics engineer innovator, and descended from an ancient Yorkshire family.

Arthur Cayley settled in Saint Petersburg, Russia, as a merchant.

Arthur Cayley's mother was Maria Antonia Doughty, daughter of William Doughty.

At the unusually early age of 17 Arthur Cayley began residence at Trinity College, Cambridge.

Arthur Cayley finished his undergraduate course by winning the place of Senior Wrangler, and the first Smith's prize.

Arthur Cayley continued to reside at Cambridge University for four years; during which time he took some pupils, but his main work was the preparation of 28 memoirs to the Mathematical Journal.

Arthur Cayley gave up a lucrative practice for a modest salary; but he never regretted the exchange, for the chair at Cambridge enabled him to end the divided allegiance between law and mathematics, and to devote his energies to the pursuit that he liked best.

Arthur Cayley constructed the Chow variety of all curves in projective 3-space.

Arthur Cayley took great interest in the movement for the university education of women.

Arthur Cayley accepted the invitation, and lectured at Baltimore during the first five months of 1882 on the subject of the Abelian and Theta Functions.

In 1893 Arthur Cayley became a foreign member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.

In 1883 Arthur Cayley was President of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.

Arthur Cayley took for his subject the Progress of Pure Mathematics.

Arthur Cayley retained to the last his fondness for novel-reading and for travelling.

Arthur Cayley took special pleasure in paintings and architecture, and he practiced water-colour painting, which he found useful sometimes in making mathematical diagrams.